


cross the universe

by doctormissy



Series: What if...? [2]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Inspired by Dreams, Picnics, Post-Canon Fix-It, Post-Episode: s10e12 The Doctor Falls, Stargazing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-11-21 23:49:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11368179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctormissy/pseuds/doctormissy
Summary: The battle with the Cybermen is over. The Master is gone, Bill is gone, Nardole is gone. It's just the Doctor and Missy now, in the TARDIS. Because she chose him. Will he choose her?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS WHAT I WANT IT TO END LIKE OKAY. It's written before it aired. You can think of it as a fix-it now. Didn't even need rewriting. Nice.  
> Also, I haven't written anything in more than a month, so this is my practice. Enjoy :)
> 
> EDIT 11/7: I edited a few words (just a few) to make it canon-compliant and added it into the series as a sequel to Can't Exist Without You. It fits together more nicely than I'd think.

‘So, what happens now, Doctor?’ Missy looked up. Her voice trembled. She crossed her legs, and her skirt swept a few stray specks of dust off the floor. The Doctor leant against the console, gripping its edge with his hand. The look in his eyes was distant, searching for a mental crutch.

The Doctor has parked the TARDIS in his office at the university. He couldn’t—wouldn’t, really—think of any other place. Earth was a habit, the blue planet an asylum for the two Time Lords. They had a history.

The Master—the other Master, or Mistress now—went her own way in her own TARDIS. The paradox had wiped her memories of the encounter; she would get them back, eventually, when time would catch up with her and she would reach the moment of looking into her past self’s eyes. It was for the best like this. Who would they be to oppose the natural course of events and consistency of time?

It was only the two of them. The oldest friends (were they friends, now?) in the whole universe.

He moved closer to the chair Missy was sitting in. One step, two steps. ‘I don’t know, Mistress.’ The TARDIS hummed, perhaps to encourage her Time Lord.

 _Stand with me._ The thought echoed in his mind. The intense brainwaves reached Missy’s, too. The connection they once used to have was still there and never could evaporate. In the battle, she stood with him. It was a tough fight between her past and her future, between good and evil, between herself and the Doctor. The Master had said he would never forgive her for what had happened to his little human, and the Doctor had said he had forgiven her for worse. In the end, she had made the choice, and it had been the right one. She was a different person now. She was good. She tried to be. For her Doctor. But the battle, in which they all had killed, was over now. Did he still want her to be his friend? To stand with him, and by him?

‘Will you lock me up again?’ she asked, and she was afraid.

‘No.’ The Doctor waved his hand in the air. ‘I think you can stay here… with me… if you want to.’ Was that a smile on his face? ‘The TARDIS is nothing but striving in your presence, after all.’

‘Because you are neglecting her, my dear Doctor!’ She was gazing into his eyes, now. Her look was stern, despite the uncertainty on her mind.

‘No, I am not.’

‘Yes, you are. Isn’t he?’ The last words were louder. She turned her head to the ceiling. There was another deep hum. The Doctor opened his mouth in protest but shut it again. He thought carefully about what he would say next. ‘Anyway. What’s in the past is in the past. I believe—I am capable of believing that we can change. That we can make this work. But I need one thing from you, Missy.’

‘Name it,’ said Missy, pretending as if she didn’t care. She did, nonetheless.

He paused. His eyes dropped to the floor as he stepped even closer. ‘I have forgiven you. For Bill, for everything. But I need _you_ to forgive _me_ , too.’ He found the audacity to look his old friend in the eye again. He caught her off guard.

Missy stood up quickly. She took a breath to say something, but the Doctor was faster. _For what?_ she was going to ask. He could hear it. ‘For being an idiot and treating you the way no being should be treated.’ He cocked his head. ‘You didn’t deserve that. You are not my… enemy.’ _Not at the moment_. _Hopefully, not anymore._

It was Missy who got closer now. The Doctor did not push her away this time. ‘You said it yourself. What’s in the past is in the past.’ She took his hands in hers just as before. The Doctor was calm this time. His hearts beat in unison with hers. ‘I would cross the universe for you.’

She would. She did. She would burn it, too, if that was what he wanted. But he never would. That was what made them different. They also had things in common: they would do anything for each other, anytime, even though they might not admit so.

After a few more moments of silence, the Doctor spoke, ‘Thank you.’ He stepped back, letting go of her like he was scared what might happen if he didn’t. His face suddenly lit up, and he was a wholly new person. Excited. ‘Now, are you hungry? Because I am definitely hungry. Let’s have a picnic.’

The Time Lady slowly raised her eyebrows. Sometimes, the Doctor still managed to surprise her. ‘Are you serious?’

‘Yes, Missy. A picnic. Under the stars! Just like the old days, you and me.’ He smiled widely. It was a long time since he gave a smile like that to her. He walked over to the console, pressed a few buttons, and dematerialised. He didn’t tell her where they were going.

‘Alright,’ she sing-sang. ‘But you’re making the food.’

They _could_ make it work, maybe, this new alliance. Partnership. It would take time to be open with each other again, but they were, doubtlessly, making progress.

Hope was a dangerous thing, but when did they not embrace danger with open arms?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The picnic was what I originally intended to write, actually, so I had to add an unexpected second chapter. Enjoy :)

They walked across the green paths meandering through the green and blue forests of Solaris II, trees and plants reaching far into the emerald night sky full of shining stars and planets and a supernova remnant. The tops were dipped in the green darkness, unattainable. The trunks were peppered with orange blossoms that filled the air with a thick, spicy scent. A picnic basket swung in the Doctor’s hand, back and forth in a loop. Warm wind made Missy’s hair dance.

She held his hand. He winced at the physical contact at first. He was never one for closeness, the Master less so. They were uncomfortable in their own skin if the skin belonged to someone else, even a millimetre of it for a millisecond. But then he took her hand, because hundreds of years teach one that uncomfortable is sometimes good and necessary and also that there is a very thin line between uncomfortable and pleasant. The shivers might be a sign of either.

She held his hand and told him it was going to be alright in her mind. And if it weren’t, Gallifreyan drinks were always the best cure. Those could induce oblivion. Missy had smuggled two bottles in the wicker basket for the bad times. For the old times.

The silent walk was almost over; the field of grass opened in front of them like the end of a dark tunnel. There were no flowers, only purple culms that rippled in the wind. There were no people on this planet either, merely small creatures living under the ground or high in the treetops. The Doctor didn’t want to risk going to inhabited planets yet, or so he would say.

He smiled and sped up. The basket bumped into his leg. As every other object in his TARDIS, it was bigger on the inside, and full of fruits and sandwiches.

‘Do you like it?’ he turned his face, now adorned with a grin, to Missy. He stopped walking and drank in the scenery with all of his senses.

She remembered the day when they had been assigned for a botany project slash TARDIS piloting practice together with Ushas and Drax and argued where to go for an hour. Theta had wanted to go here.

‘It’s beautiful,’ Missy said softly. It was more than beautiful, so dark and yet rich in light and colours.

‘I said you would love this planet,’ the Doctor continued walking, ‘when we were children.’

_And you were right, my dear,_ she replied telepathically. The grass rubbed against her skirt and rustled. _You were right. About… everything._

They knew what she was talking about.

She stopped walking and released his hand. She couldn’t walk any further; something in her didn’t let her. She lifted her gaze and stared at the skies. The stars twinkled and sparkled with life. She tried to see the beauty of it, see it through the Doctor’s eyes, instead of the relish in setting them on fire.

Were that tears in her eyes again? She wiped them with the back of her hand before the Doctor could notice. Only then she glanced at him again. The basket was open and a blanket already covered a square of grass at his feet. There were no hills, no valleys, just miles of flat ground. This spot was as good as any other.

‘Come on, Missy, let’s sit down. You must be tired.’

‘Me? Doctor, you almost regenerated. _You_ need to sit down.’

It sounded like an order, but there was concern in her voice. She came to stand behind his back and put her hands on his shoulders with a light push. He relaxed and settled down on the blanket. It was yellow, red, and orange like Gallifreyan heavens.

She sat down too, next to him. The Doctor sat back and leant on his arms, eyes closed. Missy smoothed the creases on her purple skirt. The air was rather hot, so she took the coat off and threw it on the grass behind her carelessly. Mud and ashes from the Mondasian ship had soiled it anyway.

She copied his position but kept her eyes wide open. It was inexpressibly nice and peaceful, just lying there unburdened by the tragedies and miracles of the universe, the distress calls and ongoing wars, the fighting and bickering and remedying the devastation in their trail.

Missy shifted closer to the Doctor. Their arms and hands touched. He opened one eye, the one on her side, and then the other. They shared a long gaze filled with so many unspoken words.

The Doctor broke it to ask whether Missy fancied a sandwich. It came out as sound this time. She said yes, and he fished two bread triangles with eggs, cheddar cheese, and cress out of the infinite basket. They looked at the sky and named every star they could remember when they ate.

Just like the old days, except they were brand new days and brand new people with thousands of years of experience and strife in their hearts but the same thoughts in mind.


End file.
